SWITZERLAND BY RAIL - REGIONS - FRIBOURG

CAILLER-NESTLE CHOCOLATE FACTORY TOUR - BROC

The Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory in Broc, just a stones throw from
medieval town of Gruyere was has been making chocolate treats since Louis
Cailler established his headquarters in the Swiss hills of Fribourg-Gruyere
in 1989. Now owned by Swiss food giant Nestlé, the factory has
opened a fresh new tour and visitor center at the hundred year old factory,
telling the story of how sweet milk chocolate came to be. Following the
journey of the cocoa bean first discovered by the conquistadors in the
New World. At first chocolate was bitter, but thought to be an aphrodisiac
treat by the wealthy. Soon, ground cocoa was mixed with sugar, adding
sweet to the bitter.

But it was 1875, that François-Louis Cailler from his shop in
Vevey on Lake Geneva making squares of dark chocolate, joined with Daniel
Peter, who discovered the idea of mixing milk and powdered chocolate
in a steam pressure system that the modern era of sweet milk chocolate
now known a Swiss Chocolate, was born. They were joined by Amédée
Kohler, who formulated with a recipe of adding hazelnuts and pralines
to chocolate. A supply of plentiful supply of fresh milk was needed and
Caillier, while on a bicycle ride through the hills near the village
of Broc, found the perfect spot for a factory. The Cailler Chocolate
brand spread across the world in the market crash of 1929 when Cailler
merged with Henry Nestlé, the maker of the powdered milk.

The Caillier Factory Tours is not really a tour of the factory for health
reasons, but a special exhibit tour, entered in groups by timed entry,
through a series of themed exhibit rooms with interactive displays of
sights, sounds and. At the end of the display the doors open to the “factory”.
A room where cocoa beans of different roasting flavors can be scooped
in your hand to smell the aroma or taste the bitter sweetness, and milk
cans with the names of local suppliers from family farms in the Gruyère-Broc
area who still supply the milk.. A machine with a factory worker demonstrates
the automated process of modern chocolate making.

The tour ends in the tasting room, where all the varieties of Cailler
chocolates can be sampled to your sweet tooth’s delight. After
the tour kids and parents can have the hands on opportunity make their
own chocolate recipes in the Atelier de Chocolat educational center.
The shop offers packaged Cailler Chocolate products or souvenirs to take
away, or ship home, of have a snack at the café restaurant "La
Chocolatière”.

The Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory Tour is open daily from 10am to
6pm with the last show entry at 5:15 pm. A tour takes about an hour and
15 minutes, unless you stay for the chocolate making classes. Entry for
Adults is 10 Swiss francs, Students and Seniors 8 Swiss Francs, children
under 16 are free. By local train go to the Broc Fabrique stop on the
SBB rail line. The Swiss Chocolate Train from Monteux which includes
the chocolate factory tour runs from May to October. The Swiss Golden
Pass Line from Interlaken to Montreux passes near Gruyere through Montbovon.
for a stop-over visit.